28 Day Fitness Challenge: Days 1-7

Not much in ways of mileage, but I am trying to build my endurance back up and work out the kinks muscle tightness. Did 25 min of walking and 5 minutes of jogging on Monday. On Tuesday, I did 7.5 minutes of jogging (five 1.5 min. jog/1.5 min. walk intervals).

Day 3

12 minute Kettlebell Full Body Blast with Lauren Brooks. I went to south Jersey on Tuesday night for the funeral for a member of my church family (RIP NaNa). But, I took my kettlebell and DVD with me. Couldn’t be missing days already. But yeah, 12 minutes. That’s all. Kicked my butt. My legs were sore immediately and the rest of the week.

Day 4

Did five 1.5 min jog/run intervals again. I increased my speed in last jog interval. But, I didn’t pick up any distance or burn any more calories than Tuesday. I think this was because my warm up started off slower. My thighs were tight and SORE!!

Day 5

Did 20 minutes on the treadmill and 10 minute Abs of Steel. I passed out after work on Thursday night!!! Between a sore body from resuming working out and the long day Wednesday (funeral in south Jersey and the CurlyNikki meet-up in NYC), I was DONE!!

Day 6

Did my old 20 minute 300 Calorie Treadmill Routine. It wasn’t pretty. I had to reduce speed for last half as my heart was coming out of my chest. How far they have fallen!! Anywho, it’s still a great short workout!! Check it out via the prior link, if you’re interested in a quick workout for those days you don’t have a lot of time! Also, a lot of people complained in the comments of the Fitness mag post that their treadmill only said they burned 160 or so cals. The treadmill can’t calculate calorie burn from interval training. It also is not accurate as there are various factors (sex, weight, height, muscle mass, metabolic rate, etc.) that are needed to accurately determine the number of cals an individual will burn with any given exercise. So, the 300 isn’t necessarily accurate either. These things rely upon averages and are not exact. If you’re not “average,” then they are just estimates.

Day 7

75 minutes of hot yoga (Vinyasa Flow) with my fave instructor, Colleen, at Younique Yoga. I didn’t do too badly even though I’m out of shape and haven’t been in forever!! I was even able to do a headstand and did it again when I got home!! It’s not perfect, but it’s a start!!

It’s been a pretty good week for my diet as well. I ate a little WAY too much granola yesterday, but everything I’ve eaten has been healthy. I’ve planned my meals for the most part, have been eating fruit, veggies, low fat/zero fat Greek yogurt, walnuts and have been drinking lots of water. I reduced my coffee from three cups a day to one cup in the morning to jump start me for working out (well, except Friday, when I needed a second cup!). Oh, and I’ve been getting in bed by 11 pm and waking up at 5:30 am to exercise in the morning prior to work!

And now, it’s time to hit the shower and clean this body and wash this hair (pre-poo has been “marinating” since yesterday!).

Week 1 had me winded by my 7km jog – background: I started working out last spring and haven’t really taken a break except during our summer vacation to the States. However, I picked things up this fall with he help of a personal trainer who has showed me the ropes in weight training. It turns out that I love it :)! But my problem has been endurance – I hate anything where I end up loosing breath. So in January I started a jogging program, twice a week 30min/60min jog.

However, last week I noticed that I’m having trouble getting through my 30 min jog (about 5km), coupled with sleeping problems at night. A friend of mine who does marathons pointed out that I’m probably not getting enough rest days between weight training, jogging and swimming and recommended that I take a break. So week 1 went in working out, but week 2 will definitely be calmer. I’ll keep it down to 3 work outs this week and week 3 I will rest, but focus more on diet. I never would have thought that I would be one to resent the thought of not working out, but if resting will help me to finally be able to do that 7 km jog without looking like a slathering blundering idiot, I’m ready to give it a go!

You go Funlayo!!! My ultimate goal is to be able to run a little less than a 5K in 30 minutes. I think a 5K is 3.2 miles and I just want to run 3 miles in 30 minutes, which is a 6.0 on the treadmill. I’m not even close and I don’t think I have ever done it … well, maybe back in my early 30s when I first picked up running more regularly.

Get it Girl! In addition to your challenge, I’m doing the Black Girls Run challenge also and we are on week 3. I lost 3 lbs last week so now of course I think I’m an expert! LOL My new favorite smoothie consist of kale & spinach, almond milk, tsp of peanut butter and a couple of strawberries. It taste just like a milk shake and rids me of my craving for sweets. I’ve also been eating a bit of peanuts/raisins. I’ve always like that combo but it can be fattening. I replaced my sodas for sparking water which I love but can be expensive.

I did 2 5ks last week – I mostly walked one but alternated walk/jog the second one. 3 days of core work and one day I did a Jillian Michaels kickboxing tape. I was worn out by Thursday but got my energy back by Sat.

I’ve cut back almost everything in my diet and ate a lot of MD crab soup last week. Its pretty low in calories and for some reason I got a craving for it. I pretty much eliminated my all time fav- chips in favor of roasted chickpeas. They have a good crunch to them and as long as I’m eating I’m fine!

LOL at losing 3 lbs last week and thinking you’re an expert :)!! That smoothie sounds GOOD!! I want to start doing some smoothies, but I’m always in a rush, so I never have time. I’d like to find some frozen kale so that I can do them with all frozen veggies and fruits!! And 2 5Ks in one week? You get it girl!!

Was the MD crab soup homemade or store bought? They serve that at work sometimes, and it’s okay. I might like a low cal version that tastes good!! And the roasted chickpeas, homemade or store bought? I have been eating granola, some regular, some gluten free. I won’t be buying anymore, but just needed something that wasn’t entirely horrible as a snack in these first few weeks as I work to get my cravings/hunger in check. I also have a roasted edamame and goji berry mix and one with dried cranberries, nuts and orange essence. The cals on that are about 120 calories for 1/2 cup, but it has a lot of fiber and I don’t overeat it. So, it’s a good snack choice over the granola, which I could eat a whole bag of if I allowed myself!! LOL!!

Well I gained 1 lb back so I’m back to novice status! LOL I got the flu so I ate a lot of frozen dinners b/c I was too lazy to cook. But I’m back to on my grind today. I wish I could do a handstand! They gave us a 60 mile challenge for the month of March. I do more walking than running when I’m on my own and the weather is getting really nice so I guess I won’t have any excuses.

The MD crab soup was made in my crock pot. I love it because I hate hovering over the stove so I can just dump the ingredients in and be on my merry way. I added tomato sauce, water, red potatoes, green beans, corn and crab. I should have added Old Bay but I think its a bit salty and I retain water easy. I got the roasted chickpea recipe online. I use dry chickpeas but you can use the canned ones. Just rinse them a few times to get rid of all the salt but chickpeas have a lot of fiber in them. http://www.chow.com/recipes/30368-spicy-oven-roasted-chickpeas.

Thanks so much for posting this challenge! I’m going to try that perm rod set that you did also. It turned out awesome and looked even better as the days progressed!

OMGoodness you were getting it!!! My “28 day” will start tomorrow. So much fun in New Orleans lawd that food is good! My workouts will pretty much consist of doing Insanity for now until it gets a little warmer then I’ll incorporate walking/jogging. I hope I stay committed I really need to.

LOL!! Thanks Brittany!! I don’t know if I was quite getting it, rather than just sticking with it ;). Gotta long way to go!! But, have to start somewhere! So, get yours lady!! Waiting to read your first update!!